This invention relates to automatic sliding door systems of a type wherein a door panel or a pair of cooperating panels are driven between opened and closed positions along a linear path. More particularly, this invention relates to a sliding door system employing an automatically controlled direct current motor which provides a rotary drive for driving one or more sliding doors.
In automatic conventional sliding door systems employing a pair of cooperating doors which open and close in tandem along a linear track, an electric motor functions as the prime mover of the doors. The doors are connected to a upwardly disposed tooth belt which is suspended between a pair of pulleys. The rotary drive of the motor is translated into linear motion of the doors. Header mounted switches or other microswitches positioned along the track are conventionally employed to sense the actual position of at least one of the doors and to employ the door position information to control the operation of the motor. The present invention is a new and improved automatic door control system which does not require header mounted switches or microswitches to determine the actual position of the doors.